104 christmas cake recipes

Maple sugar pumpkin pie pairs warming cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg with a splash of pure maple syrup for an old-fashioned New England take on the Thanksgiving classic. Whole milk and eggs make for a tender custard.

Authentic Georgia pecan pie with a 50-50 blend of light and dark corn syrups, baked low and slow in a deep-dish shell. The split syrup is what gives this pie its signature balance.

Dark rum balls made with crushed vanilla wafers, cocoa, nuts, and a generous pour of dark rum, rolled in powdered sugar. No-bake holiday cookie that improves with age in the tin.

Old Pecan Street pecan pie: an Austin, Texas classic with light corn syrup, vanilla, and chopped pecans baked into a single unbaked crust. The straightforward Texas-style holiday pie.

Cool and creamy pumpkin pie folds whipped cream into a butterscotch-pudding pumpkin filling spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg, then chills in a cinnamon-sugar-glazed crust. A no-bake pumpkin pie that skips the oven entirely.

Holiday gingerbread cutout cookies made with molasses, brown sugar, and warm spices. Dough chills for 1 hour, rolls to perfect thickness, then cuts into festive shapes ready for decorating.

Fudgy chocolate pecan pie built on sweetened condensed milk and melted sweet chocolate instead of the usual corn syrup. The pecans stir into a rich chocolate custard for a brownie-meets-pecan-pie holiday dessert.

Soft, buttery sugar cookies with a hint of lemon zest, made with both butter and oil for a tender crumb. Cream of tartar keeps them pillowy. A holiday cookie jar classic.

Holiday pumpkin muffins with pumpkin pie spice, buttermilk, and a simple powdered sugar glaze. Soft, warmly spiced, and ready in 25 minutes for Christmas morning breakfast.

Festive lebkuchen cookies made with honey, brown sugar, allspice, and lemon. A traditional German Christmas cookie decorated with white icing.

Christmas cookie slices are old-fashioned icebox cookies: vanilla shortbread dough rolled into logs, chilled, sliced thin, and baked into crisp golden rounds. Make ahead and ready to slice for holiday baking.

Checkerboard cookies with alternating chocolate and vanilla dough squares in a striking grid pattern. An impressive slice-and-bake cookie for holiday cookie tins and special occasions.

No-bake rum balls made with crushed vanilla wafers, pecans, cocoa, powdered sugar, and real rum. A classic Christmas cookie tin staple rolled in powdered sugar.

Authentic springerle, the embossed German anise Christmas cookies. Egg dough pressed with carved molds, dried overnight, then baked low so the white design stays crisp. Aged to mellow the flavor.

Make-ahead chocolate chip cookie dough that keeps in the fridge for up to 4 weeks. Sour cream keeps them soft and chewy, pecans add crunch, and you can bake a fresh batch whenever the craving hits.

Nancy's ice cream kolacky: a three-ingredient Eastern European-style cookie where vanilla ice cream replaces liquid and eggs, creating a tender pastry dough filled with jam and dusted with powdered sugar. A Christmas cookie-tray favorite.